A congressman who has been vocal in his support for President Donald Trump is calling for "openness and transparency" in a potential investigation of alleged contact between the president's campaign officials and Russia.

California Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican, told Fox News on Sunday that though he trusts the president, he believes a special prosecutor should handle a probe into the accusations, not Trump-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions or a deputy.

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The comments came after an interview Friday night on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher." Issa told the liberal host "we're going to ask the intelligence committees of the House and Senate to investigate within the special areas they oversee."

Maher then asked whether Issa would want Sessions, another Trump supporter through the campaign, to lead the inquiry into possible ties.

"You're right that you cannot have somebody — a friend of mine, Jeff Sessions — who was on the campaign and who is an appointee," Issa said. "You're going to need to use the special prosecutor's statute and office."

Trump did not indicate whether he supported using a special prosecutor when asked about it by a reporter Monday. He has denied knowing that any of his campaign advisers were in contact with Russians during the campaign. He has also denied that he has financial ties or other connections to Russia.

Intelligence officials said last year that Russian hackers targeting Democratic rival Hillary Clinton played a role in the 2016 election, and then-President Barack Obama followed those reports with sanctions. Earlier this month, Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned after it was revealed he spoke about the sanctions with a Russian ambassador before the administration came to the White House.

"We have to work with [the Russians]; we don't have to trust them," Issa told Maher. "We need to investigate their activities and we need to do it because they are bad people."